Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
I clench my jaw and strive to keep my patience. “You will not swim. I’ll carry you.”
Catalina props her hands on her hips and glares. Her earlier fear is nowhere in evidence, and I have no right to the relief that brings me. Even if it means she’s challenging me. “Right, because that worked out so well last time.”
She’s rather magnificent tonight, clothed in a lush purple dress that hugs her torso and flares out from her hips to stop just short of the ground. One of the many I ordered on that first day. My people have little use for such garments, but humans are soft and sensitive to changes in temperature in a way we aren’t. I couldn’t have Catalina walking around the keep naked.
Why not?
“You said no harm was done from that experience.” My voice is too harsh, an attempted escape from my wayward thoughts.
“I lied.” She says it so easily, as if there was never any question of it. “I know you weren’t trying to hurt me, and I wasn’t going to let a little case of the bends cause you to lose your territory.”
“The bends.”
“Yep. Pretty sure that’s what happened.” She shrugs and taps her head. “I read about it once. It has to do with the pressure of being underwater. If you go too deep too fast, or come up too fast without adjusting to the pressure, your body throws a big fit.”
“A big fit.”
“Yes, that’s what I said.” A note of defensiveness creeps into her tone. “Look, I’m not a bends specialist, and I’m pretty sure I read it in a romance novel; I was more focused on getting to the naughty bits than on the science behind the bends. I don’t swim and didn’t anticipate it ever being a factor in my life. My mistake.”
I shake my head. “It’s good information to have. As I said, it won’t happen again.” It means spending more time during the trip with her close, but I can hardly assign Embry to the task. Zir reaction to my decision to take Catalina to the tower means ze won’t do it, and I don’t trust anyone else enough to wager the territory on it.
Catalina eyes the pool I emerged from a short time ago. “And we’re leaving now.”
“Yes.” The faster we leave, the faster I can retreat. I’ve only been in this room for a few minutes, but I can’t escape the onslaught of memories from the last time I was here. Of how good she looked tangled up in me. Of how desperately I wanted to touch her, to taste her. I don’t understand why this is happening.
Dangerous. This human is dangerous.
I haven’t felt this kind of draw since . . .
I take a breath and force myself to finish the thought. Since Brant. But it’s not the same. With him, it was as inevitable as the tide, a steady rush of needing to be close to him, to spend time with him, to get to know every part of him, body and soul.
With Catalina, it feels like a hurricane. I don’t know myself when I’m with her, and she’s only been in my territory for a few days.
It means I can’t trust myself with her.
“Thane.” From the exasperation in her tone, she’s said my name more than once.
“Yes?”
She worries her bottom lip but finally says, “I think I’m afraid of the water.”
“You think you’re afraid of the water?”
“That’s what I just said.” She shoves back a length of her long dark hair. “I’m trying to be honest with you. There’s no reason to mock me.”
“I’m not mocking you.” I simply do not understand how someone can fear the water. A healthy dose of caution is smart, but water is life. It still defies belief to think Catalina has spent her life without swimming.
She draws in a long breath, and it’s my only warning before her shoulders drop and her lips curve into that wild smile. Catalina still, but more. “Really, I would think you’d be enticed by this whole experience. Helpless damsel in distress, here for you to sweep up and carry around.”
“I am not enticed by incompetence.” It’s not what I mean to say. What I mean to say is that I’m not enticed by anyone but my husband, long gone and released into the depths. I’ve felt desire, but that’s not the same thing. But once the words are out, there’s no taking them back.
She’s completely undaunted. “Guess you’re just unlucky, then. Let’s get this over with.” She lifts her arms and makes a motion with her hands. “Uppies.”
“Uppies.”
“Thane, really.” She’s still grinning. “How are we to communicate at all if you’re just going to repeat every outrageous thing I say back to me? It makes for dull conversation.”
“If I gag you, you won’t be able to say anything outrageous.” Once again, as soon as the words hit the air between us, I’m appalled. I never talk to anyone this way. Certainly not some human who’s smaller and weaker than me.